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Art exhibit features works by Stanley Marcus and his granddaughter.

Photographs taken by Neiman Marcus executive Stanley Marcus, are paired with images taken by his granddaughter Allison V. Smith in an exhibit on view at Artspace at Untitled.

BY JOHN BRANDENBURG •
Published: February 10, 2013

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There is an intriguing contrast as well as some similarities between the photographs of Stanley Marcus and his granddaughter, Allison V. Smith, in their “Reflections” show at Artspace at Untitled.

The exhibit contains smaller pictures of people and other subjects by the former president of the luxury brand Neiman Marcus, who died in 2002, and larger, square-format photos by Smith, a Dallas photojournalist.

The color pictures by Marcus, “discreetly made during his international travels for the company,” or portraying family and friends, have an informal, unforced documentary quality, which makes them especially memorable.

In a photo of “Vice President Lyndon Johnson,” taken at his ranch in early 1963, the future president has an intent expression, at odds with his casual seated posture and gold, short-sleeved, almost exotic sports shirt.

Nearly surreal is Marcus' 1964 photo of several serious-looking men, seated in a bar or cafe, under round-topped, umbrella-like hanging lamps, wearing “the Stetson Made Famous by LBJ.”

There is something a bit surreal, too, about his photo of the backs of two priests, whose black hats and long black robes, as they look at Roman ruins, make their bodies almost seem to be joined, like twins.

The same might be said of his 1957 picture of the back of a woman, wearing a black dress, looking down, somewhat askance, at parts of two unclad mannequins, used in something called “the French Fortnight” in Dallas.

Capturing the spirit of travel nicely are Marcus' photos of a Cadillac being lowered below deck on the Queen Mary in 1948, and of a quaintly charming merry-go-round, with small houses for seats, at “A Fair in Milan” in 1957.

Equally eye-catching — and holding — are many of Marcus' pictures of people. The dark suit worn by Christian Dior creates a striking contrast with the exotic pattern of fabric behind him, as the designer smokes a cigarette, with one hand in his pocket, at his Paris apartment, in a 1954 photo.

His wife sits with two female friends, wearing straw hats purchased at the market in Acapulco, the warm colors of their pink skins balancing the cool blue of the ocean behind them, in a 1962 picture.